Petals Scatter
by Azdoine
Summary: Byakuya never enjoyed the smell of roses, so cloying in comparison to the gentle scent of his cherry blossoms. But deprived of his Zanpakuto, trapped in an unfamiliar world, and in an unfamiliar body... well, maybe he can learn to like roses after all? [ABANDONED]
1. Chapter 1 - Arrival

**I do not own Bleach, RWBY, or anything else.**

* * *

 _Where…_

The sound of rending flesh slowly dragged Byakuya into the waking world, as his body moved freely and without his will.

 _What…?_

He could barely feel anything, as though the world had been dipped in a thick layer of leaden cotton. He tried to focus, to zone in on the sensations around him. The landscape around him was blurry and fogged over, and every sound and sensation came with a punchy, woozy, wobbly feeling in his head.

 _Hisana!_

The last thing he remembered… what had happened?

He'd sacrificed himself, buying Kurosaki the time he'd needed to confront Yhwach, and then… he'd met _her_ again. Hisana.

" _I'm sorry, love, but your time hasn't come yet,"_ She had said. _"You're still needed elsewhere. There's more out there than just the Soul King."_

He wanted to scream, to cry, to rage at the unfairness of it all. Yet the same fog which blocked his senses also seemed to seal his movements. He needed to cry, but he could not even blink his eyes, which moved on their own. He needed to scream, but he couldn't even open his mouth, which stayed resolutely shut, as if it was closed by the will of another. He wanted to rage, but his limbs were clapped securely within metaphorical irons.

Finally, his body moved again, entirely without his volition. Focusing in on the alien sensation which was his new body, he could feel his hands clamped around some kind of pole weapon which was swinging about, and he could hear a repetitive _snicker-snack_ as the weapon continued to meet resistance, before cleaving through the opposition.

The disconnect between him and his body… he'd felt it before, when he once tried to wear somebody else's Gigai. The notion that this… off-fitting Gigai could move on it's own was troublesome. Was it another blasted Mod-Soul?

 _I need to get out… to figure out what's happened! I need to get back to Hisana!_

He wasted no time, and he tried propelling himself upwards and outwards of his current body. Nothing happened, and he was still stuck in the same predicament. Even worse, his Shinigami powers… were flagging. He couldn't even call up the spirit of his Zanpakuto.

A morbid thought occurred to him, a reminder of his time in the Royal Realm. _Nimaya said that Asauchi were made from deceased spirits! Did he turn me into a Zanpakuto!?_

By the Soul King, if this was what the afterlife looked like for him, he was going to find a way to come back and _destroy_ the irreverent Shinigami. Especially for building weapons out of people's souls, which was a lot less justifiable when you were on the other side of the issue.

 _No! I won't be some sort of passenger in this!_

He could feel his spiritual pressure failing slowly, but he wasn't going down any time soon. He surged his power, and the fog over his senses and his body faded immediately.

Immediately, he took stock of his surroundings, and noted that he was in a corporeal, human-shaped body. He wasn't a Zanpakuto (quite a relief!) or some kind of spirit projection. But on a more pressing note, he was surrounded by wolf-like monsters, eerily like Hollows save for the lack of the requisite Hollow-holes in their chests.

He reached out his senses, trying to pick up on their Reiatsu, but nothing came back. _Nothing_.

They leapt forward before he could even consider their eerie existence, and Byakuya burst into action. He dropped the unfamiliar weapon in his hands, a strange mechanical scythe which felt so _wrong_. It wasn't Senbonzakura (One Thousand Cherry Blossoms), the sword which complemented and channeled his soul.

There was a reason why Shinigami rarely used weapons aside from their Zanpakuto. There was nothing like the exquisite thrill of holding an avatar of your soul in your hands, and fighting with it as an extension of the self.

"Hado-"

He began the incantation for a Kido (Spirit Way) spell, before stopping in shock. His voice wasn't the rich, monotone male sound which he was accustomed to, but instead it was the shallow voice of a young girl.

 _What in the world!?_

Before he could ruminate on the latest bizarre development, he felt the jaws of one of the wolves close around his torso, and he screamed out. He tried to cut the yell short, but as if his mouth wasn't controlled by his own will, he continued to cry out in pain.

"H-Hado #4: Byakurai (Way of Destruction #4:Pale Lightning)!" He managed to roar in his new, strangely feminine voice. A lance of lightning emerged from his finger, piercing the monster which was trying to eat him through it's skull and killing it at once. It faded into black smog without a fuss.

Half a dozen more of the beasts continued to advance upon him, and he leapt upwards with his air-walking, taking stock of his new body. To his horror, it was indeed the body of a young girl, clad in red and black skirt and blouse, with a long red cloak. But he couldn't linger on that.

"Hado #33: Sokatsui (Blue Fire Crash Down)!"

An enormous orb of blue fire emerged from his palm, leaping downwards to incinerate the monsters in scorching flames. And so he continued, blasting outwards with Hado spells to burn his foes down to their bones, reducing them to ashes.

Finally, no more of the twisted wolves pursued him, and he allowed himself to drop to the ground. Killing these rank-and-file monsters should have been easy, but he could feel something draining on him. He collapsed to the ground bonelessly, falling to his hands and knees.

"What…"

The world spun around him, and he felt darkness embrace him.

* * *

Weiss Schnee winced in pain as her older sister swabbed her eyelid. Together, the two of them made for quite the pair as Winter attended to Weiss' injuries in the washroom.

"OW! Owowowow! Winter, that _hurts_!"

Winter Schnee's lips pursed up, a parody of the thin red line which slashed downward through Weiss' left eye.

"I'm sorry, Weiss, but I have to make sure this doesn't get infected. You could lose your eye if we don't keep this clean, 'kay?"

Weiss gritted her teeth. She was well used to swallowing her complaints, but she hated having to do it with her older sister.

"I'm sorry, sister. It'll just be a little bit more, alright?"

Winter bundled up a fold of gauze, holding it firmly against Weiss' eye and tapeing it firmly in position.

"You did really well, you know. I don't think father was actually expecting you to defeat that… thing."

"Of course." Weiss spat bitterly. She should have felt surprised, that her 'dear father' would have sent her against the Possession Grimm for a losing battle. But it wasn't a tremendous shock. "Thank you, Winter."

Her father hadn't bothered to compliment her performance, of course.

"Don't even mention it, Weiss. Hold on for a moment, I'll be right back."

Weiss nodded, her gaze turning to the mirror on the wall. The cross of tape over her eye, almost looked… surprisingly normal, all things considered. She knew, intellectually, that the cross should have seemed strange, but in her gut she just thought it felt _familiar_.

"Well… that's unusual."

* * *

Byakuya awoke to the sound of frenzied, confused sobs. It was a noise he hadn't heard in years, not since the days when a younger Rukia would fall to homesickness for her time in the Rukon district.

Back then, he had been so distant. The thought of letting something like that happen again felt like lead in his gut, so despite all of his reservations, he cast his gaze about, searching for the source of the cries.

He stood alone in what looked like a field of roses, shaded by autumn-red trees overhead. Turning his head around, he could make out the source of the sobs in the difference.

"Can I help you?"

The tears cut short as he approached the source. It was a girl in red and black skirt and blouse, wearing a red cloak.

 _Wait, isn't that my new body? Am I… in her Inner World?_

"You…" She hiccuped. "Who are you?"

Well, this was… problematic.

 _Oh Hisana, I wish I was as good with words as you were._


	2. Chapter 2 - Meetings

**I do not own Bleach or RWBY**

* * *

Byakuya slowly lowered himself to the ground, taking a formal seated position.

"My name is Byakuya Kuchiki. Are you alright?"

The girl restrained her sobs, looking across to him in confusion. "B-Byakuya? What color does that mean?"

 _Color?_

"I suppose… if you must know, 'Byakuya' means 'White Night'." Byakuya explained. "I suppose that counts as a color, doesn't it?"

She half-heartedly giggled. "Kind of a weird color."

He wasn't amused, merely raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, uh… sorry." She whispered, pulling her hood up and looking away from his imposing gaze. Then she hesitantly faced back towards him. "But what is this place? Do you know where we are?"

"I suppose we're in your Inner World." Byakuya shrugged. "Do you know what that means?"

She shook her head _no_ , flickering back and forth at superhuman speeds. Byakuya actually cracked a miniscule smile at the sight. It was certainly a use of Shunpo which he'd never seen before.

"This place is a manifestation of your soul. A sort of dreamscape, if you like to think of it that way." Byakuya explained gently. She went pale.

"W-why am I here?" She whispered. "What happened to me?"

Byakuya looked at her appraisingly, evaluating her. "What do you remember?"

"I remember…" She began. "I went to visit my mother's grave, but then I saw all those Beowolves." She shuddered, taking a moment to compose herself. "And I went to fight them, but then… then… something started moving my body. I couldn't control myself, and I-I started speaking in a language I didn't understand, and flying through the air…"

 _Oh, damn it all. You fool, Byakuya._

"Like I was… possessed."

Byakuya cringed ever so slightly, but managed to keep a straight face. "What's your name, child?"

She blinked, sweeping the red fringe of her hair out of the way of her silver eyes. "Ruby. Ruby Rose."

"Then… please forgive me, Rose-san." Byakuya bowed down. "It was me who took control of your body."

No response was forthcoming. Byakuya slowly looked up.

She was gone without a trace, save for rose petals on the wind.

* * *

Ruby ran, faster than she ever had before, as she pushed her Semblance to it's limits. She blitzed past trees again and again, until she'd practically cleared an entire forest's worth of land-

"Oof!"

She came to a stop as she tripped over a rock, hitting the ground and cracking her nose against the earth.

"Please calm yourself, Rose-san." He called out from behind her. She panicked.

 _How can he be fast enough to catch up with me!? I'm the quickest person I know!_

"Stay away!" She yelled, as she scrambled to her feet and tried to make a run for it.

He appeared in front of her with a nearly-inaudible _whoosh_ , so suddenly it was as if he had teleported.

"You're hurt." He murmured. He extended a hand which began to glow gently with an unfamiliar light. "Please, let me help you heal-"

"I said, STAY AWAY!" She cried, lashing out with her fists. He caught her sloppy blows easily. "Wh-what do you want with me!?"

He looked genuinely sorrowful, but she didn't know what to believe.

"I want to apologize. I was thoughtless in my actions, which is something I cannot forgive myself for."

She stumbled back, fear etched across her face. "Why? What were you doing?"

His face pinched inwards. "I awoke to found myself in your body, and I saw that I was in danger from those creatures. So I acted on instinct, without consideration for what you might think."

She regarded him warily.

"Please forgive me." He said. But she didn't look forgiving.

"What are you?" She whispered. "Are you some kind of Possession Grimm?"

"No." He replied earnestly. "I do not even know what such a thing is."

They were at a virtual impasse.

"How did you get in my body?" She asked, turning slightly green. He shrugged.

"I do not know that either."

"I don't understand." Ruby whispered. "How could you have ended up in my body without knowing how you got here?"

Byakuya shrugged. "Well, I died. It tends to be difficult to recall what comes before and after an event like that."

Her eyes bugged out, practically falling out of their sockets. "You… what!?"

"It's a long story, one which doesn't bear repeating." He shrugged her off. "Especially because we need to move forward. I'm not particularly fond of being stuck in your body, and I don't think you enjoy my presence either. So we need to find a solution."

She stared at him in confusion. "Uh, I'm sorry that you're stuck with me…"

"It's not your fault." Byakuya gently admonished her. "But in the meantime, I know little about the words which you're saying. What are 'possession grimm'? Can you tell me more of this place which I find myself in?"

She opened her mouth to speak, and Byakuya listened.

* * *

" _You're quite adept at fleeing me, aren't you?" She cackled._

 _She floated in the air upon her six wings of condensed Reishi, looking down at the creature which was daring to stand against her._

" _Even with such a wound… you're a flighty one. However, fleeing me is not an option."_

 _She blinked through the air in the form of pure light, pursuing her quarry. The insect before her drew his swords in response, causing her to laugh._

" _I've told you already! Weapons are meaningless to me when I'm in this form!"_

 _The insect laughed to himself._

" _I heard you the first time, Lille Barro."_

Weiss awoke with a start, drenched in sweat from head to toe. She shivered viciously, swallowing down bile.

"My name is Weiss Schnee. My name is Weiss. My name is Weiss…"

She stumbled through the darkness of her home, into the bathroom, and made a beeline for the toilet, before she _heaved_ , gorging up her lunch and dinner from the day before.

"What in the world is happening to me!?" She whispered into the toilet bowl, before hitting the lever to flush her vomit down. She staggered to her feet, using the towel rack by the toilet as a hand-hold to steady to herself.

"I would like to know that myself."

Weiss whirled about at the deep, unfamiliar man's voice. "Who's there?"

He slowly strode forward out of nothingness, shimmering into existence. His white garb contrasted sharply with his dark skin and the black cross-shaped mark around his eye.

"It's me, Lille Barro." He said slowly. "But, perhaps it would be more apt to say that it's _you_ , Lille Barro."

Weiss shook her head, recognizing the name from her dreams. "No… no! I'm Weiss! I'm not a man! I'm not you!"

He just looked down at her condescendingly.

"You are now."

* * *

"I don't suppose you've got any more of that whiskey?"

Taiyang shot Qrow a smoldering glare as the latter chugged through his drink at a lighting-fast pace. Together, the two of them sat at Taiyang's kitchen table, while Qrow's scroll sat in front of them. Awaiting a call.

Taiyang's drink was all but untouched.

"Don't look at me like that! It's not my fault I can hold my liquor."

"Real funny, Qrow." Taiyang outright snarled, slamming his hand against the table. "Tell me what happened. You can't just bring my daughter in through the door, unconscious and covered in Grimm blood, without calling ahead. What happened to her!?"

Qrow's face was drawn and haggard. Even more so than usual, for the edgy and moody man. "Alright then. I saw she was heading out to Summer's grave again-"

Taiyang winced.

"-so I took my crow form and followed her over, just to be sure she would be safe."

"Well, you did a great job, Qrow." Taiyang snarked harshly. Qrow glared.

"Yeah, yeah, tell me off. But listen to me. I saw her fighting off some Beowolves, and I moved in to intervene if I needed to. But that was when she started floating."

Taiyang dropped his drink, splattering amber alcohol across the floor. "No… you're joking. Tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was kidding." Qrow responded gently. "And she manipulated the elements to use against the Beowolves, _without Dust_. You know what this means."

"But…" Taiyang choked. "All of the Maidens are accounted for. Where did she get a power like this? How can she be a Maiden, I thought she just had silver eyes!?"

"And that's the last problem." Qrow concluded. "I saw her face when she was showing off her abilities. Her eyes weren't silver, they had turned grey."

Taiyang held his hands up to his face, cupping his eyes as if to block out unpleasant truths. "That's impossible."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Tai. They've gone back to silver, now, but it happened. And no, I don't know what that means. That's why I'm waiting for Ozpin to call back."

Taiyang shivered. The eyes were literal windows to the soul, in someone who had an awakened Aura. That was why humanity had such varied eye colors (and hair colors, for that matter) - each unique hue was an outward reflection of the light of the soul, of the light of individuality.

If Ruby's eyes had changed colors… then that meant that her soul had changed as well.

"Oh god. Oh, _god_ , Ruby…"


End file.
